If it’s happening in politics, economics, world affairs, contemporary culture, or the realm of ideas and values, chances are you will find a fresh, thoughtful post about it on our ’76 Blog. Contributors come from all walks of life and all over the map.

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Each month in Centennial Review, we publish essays on the fundamentals of a free and just society, adapted from speeches given by leading voices at our think tank or in the CCU community. Read this month's Centennial Review to find out what we're discussing.

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As Colorado Christian University’s think tank, we draw on the expertise of CCU Faculty, Centennial Institute Fellows, and other skilled policy analysts to provide background and recommendations on current issues facing policymakers in Colorado and the nation.

If it’s happening in politics, economics, world affairs, contemporary culture, or the realm of ideas and values, chances are you will find a fresh, thoughtful post about it on our ’76 Blog. Contributors come from all walks of life and all over the map.

Recent Posts

Each month in Centennial Review, we publish essays on the fundamentals of a free and just society, adapted from speeches given by leading voices at our think tank or in the CCU community. Read this month's Centennial Review to find out what we're discussing.

Latest Reviews

As Colorado Christian University’s think tank, we draw on the expertise of CCU Faculty, Centennial Institute Fellows, and other skilled policy analysts to provide background and recommendations on current issues facing policymakers in Colorado and the nation.

Public grows skeptical about costs of ‘affordable care’

Public grows skeptical about costs of ‘affordable care’

Nobody likes the unknown, so it’s easy to understand why Americans are
growing increasingly wary as the implementation of ObamaCare or, as it is
formally known, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, draws near.

Although the law passed in 2010, many of the key components take affect
within the next 15 months:

• Health insurance exchanges open on Oct. 1 and are supposed to help people
compare competing plans and discover whether they qualify for a
taxpayer-funded subsidy.

• Beginning in 2014, all Americans are required to be covered by health
insurance which is approved by the federal government. (Many popular high
deductible plans, which are less expensive, are not government-approved.)
Those who choose not to be covered will be required to pay a tax penalty to
the IRS. That penalty begins at $95 but grows to $695 or 2.5% of your
income by 2016.

• Businesses with more than 50 fulltime employees are mandated to provide
health insurance coverage to all employees who work 30 hours a week or more.
The law says that mandate begins in 2014, but President Obama issued an
executive order stating that his administration would not enforce that
provision until 2015.

Still, the public grows skeptical. A USA Today/Gallup poll found that
Americans disapprove of the health care law 53%-42%, with 41% describing
themselves as “strongly opposed.” Another poll found that 77% want the
individual mandate delayed or repealed, including 49% who want the mandate
killed outright.

Some people who currently have no health insurance will soon be covered.
However, many others who were not part of “the problem” – either because
they receive health insurance through their employer or because they
purchase their own coverage – are seeing their costs increase and their
choices reduced.

As candidate and as president, Barack Obama promised repeatedly that
Americans who like their health insurance can keep it and that his
legislation would reduce premium costs by up to $2,500 a year.

That’s not how the legislation is unfolding in the real world where a more
accurate interpretation is “you can keep the health insurance you have – if
you can still afford it.”

Why is this happening? Well, regardless of whether you like the requirement
that insurance must cover pre-existing conditions or removing the link
between your health risk and the cost of your premium, no one can deny that
those changes are costly to most customers.

By eliminating health status as factor in setting the price of premiums,
insurers now must charge younger and healthier individuals the roughly same
amount as they charge older and less healthy ones.

In health insurance, there’s an 80/20 rule of thumb. That is, 20% of
customers (those with the most severe conditions) account for 80% of the
costs. Likewise, the healthier 80% account for just 20% of the costs and,
therefore, subsidize insurance for those who are less healthy. For an
insurance pool to pay its bills, it needs healthy people to continue to buy
insurance to help pay the costs of those who require more care.

Unfortunately, because the new law raises their premiums, young and healthy
customers will increasingly find it more attractive to discontinue their
insurance and pay the penalty. A recent study found that three million
people age 18-34 could save more than $1,000 if they dropped their insurance
and paid the penalty for being uninsured.

Worse still, ObamaCare imposes a health insurance tax (or “HIT tax”) on
insurance companies, which have no choice but to pass along that tax to
customers.

For families who buy their own insurance through the individual market, the
HIT tax will increase premium costs by an average of $508 per year or $215
per year for individuals. For small employers, premiums are estimated to
increase by $683 annually per family or $276 for individuals, all due to the
HIT tax.

These changes to federal law combine to drive health costs in precisely the
wrong direction and to drive up costs for consumers.